St Martin's & St Paul's
Parish Canterbury
Music
Music plays a vital and developing part in the life and worship of the Parish of St. Martin and St. Paul Canterbury.
The Director of the Choir and the Organists
We are a friendly parish and are keen to build up the role that music plays in our worship. The Director of the Choir is Dom del Nevo, who is a graduate of the University of Kent. We welcome interest from all singers. The ability to read music with confidence is recommended as new music is being learned and performed on a weekly basis. In particular, we currently have vacancies for Altos, and we especially encourage interest from young people, on whom the long-term future of the choir depends. An informal audition may be necessary, depending on your voice part. We rehearse on Friday evenings from 7.30 pm. The choir is a gregarious entity; we hold regular social events and often congregate in a local hostelry after practice on Friday nights. If you would like to know more about the Choir, or are interested in joining it, please contact Dom either by telephoning him on 07753 336648 or sending an email to choirdirector@martinpaul.org.
Our Organist is Mrs Susan Honnor - more information to follow soon, once she has got her feet under the keyboard. And many thanks to Arthur Wallis, who has held the fort for the last few months and will continue to play the organ at services in St Martin's.
The Parish Choir
The Choir currently numbers 25 members. Choristers are drawn from the Parish, the local community and Canterbury Christ Church University, the main campus of which lies within the Parish. The Choir sings a variety of music ranging from congregational settings of the Eucharist to "cathedral" style settings of Evensong. The music programme, which is taken from a wide period of composition, ranges from plainsong through to contemporary music. The Choir Secretary is Sue Griffiths, tel 01227 760779
The Choir continues to sing Choral Evensong as guests at several cathedrals in the south of England, including Chichester, Rochester, and Southwark and St Paul's Cathedrals in London. In May 2009 we sang for a service at St Alban's Abbey. We also formed part of the Canterbury Deanery Choir that sang in Canterbury Cathedral in 2008. Additionally the Choir makes an annual pilgrimage to Ypres in Belgium where it sings Choral Evensong and provide the music for the very moving daily Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate.
Rehearsals are on Friday evenings, 7.30 pm - 8.45 pm. New singers are always welcome: there may be an informal audition depending on your voice part. In the first instance please contact the Director of the Choir, Dom del Nevo, either by telephing 07753 336648 or sending him an email to domdelnevo-at-gmail.com; if you wish to copy and paste the address into your email adress box, you will need to replace the -at- part with an @ symbol.
Details of the anthems that the choir will be singing on Sundays until Easter 2011 will be posted here soon
. St. Martin's Church
On the first Sunday of every month the 9.00 am Prayer Book Eucharist with an Anthem is normally sung by a quartet of singers, specialising in Renaissance settings.
The Organs
St. Martin's has an early 20th Century two-manual Walker Pipe Organ, a classical instrument consisting of bright flue work. The instrument has solid foundations and bright strong reeds and is a popular instrument for recitals. The instrument has been installed in a prime position, which allows the organ to speak freely into the church.
St. Paul's has a fine 1900 Forster and Andrew's Pipe Organ, which has just been restored by Browne & Sons. Dr David Flood, the Organist and Master of the Choristers at Canterbury Cathedral, came to St Paul's Church on the 27th February 2009 to play the inaugural concert on the refurbished organ - the repairs have been carried out by F H Browne & Sons in Ash, near Sandwich. The concert had a delightful mix of styles and tempi, and included works by J S Bach, Liszt, Mendelssohn, and Alain; the performance was well received and greeted with long applause by the large audience.
The instrument has solid foundations and bright strong reeds and is a popular instrument for recitals. The instrument has been installed in a prime position, which allows the organ to speak freely into the church. The current specification of the St Paul' Church Organ is:
Great
Open Diapason 8'
Clarabella 8'
Dulciana 8'
Principal 4'
Harmonic Flute 4'
Fifteenth 2'
Clarionet 8'
Swell
Double Diapason 16'
Open Diapason 8'
Voix Celeste 8'
Echo Gamba 8'
Principal 4'
Mixture II
Oboe 8'
Cornopean 8'
Swell Octave
Pedal
Open Diapason 16'
Bourdon 16'
Octave 8'
Bass Flute 8'
Trombone 16'
Swell to Great
Great to Pedal
Swell to Pedal
3 Combs to Swell
2 Combs to Great
Balanced Swell Pedal
Updated 22 Feb 2011
© PCC St Martin's and St Paul's Canterbury 2008 - 2011
